Dems on the Defensive

It all started with the Post Review’s Pat Tepoorten’s well-written, easy-to-comprehend opinion piece on the Transportation bill. There was some lively interaction with his commentary and each others’ comments, but no one answered Tepoorten. Among other points, Tepoorten said the annual cost of the T bill for a family of four is $500.

Senator Rick Olseen retorted to Tepoorten, saying he should report the facts, but Olseen failed to show that Tepoorten did not have the facts. Olseen asserted the cost for the average driver is $37.

Then R. J. Proulx took Tepoorten to task for making ". . . it sound like the measure calls for a one-year tax hike of $6.6 billion." Proulx failed to read Tepoorten’s clear presentation that he was writing about a $500 yearly cost. Tepoorten broke it down to an understandable amount for a family of four.

Robert G. Walz next minimized the cost by supporting the few pennies gas tax increase in the Transportation bill while attacking some Republicans who did not support it.

Joe Johnson argued for paying that measly $40 extra per year.

Carl Hasselquist just loves more taxes.

Meanwhile, Wade Vitalis, Kalin’s campaign manager, kept after Tepoorten in the comments section without ever coming close to engaging his commentary on the $500 annual cost.

Recognizing that the Democrat letter writers were stuck on the $40 figure as the annual cost of the Transportation bill, Bob Barrett pointed out there is a much higher cost than $40 for a family. His letter generated considerable interaction in the form of comments appended to his letter. However, no one answered Barrett’s or Tepoorten’s contention.

Then Mic Dahlberg, a retired Chisago County engineer and director on the Chisago County DFL executive board, contended his two-car family will pay about $71 per year. He debunked Tepoorten and Barrett’s estimate of a much higher figure with a whole lot of party line obfuscation.

And now once again, Bob Barrett tries to get these Democrats to acknowledge they are misrepresenting reality by grossly understating the true cost of the T bill to a family of four.

Kudos to Tepoorten and Barrett. For too long, the Dems have owned Chisago County and the press. Now that truth is being written and published, the Dems come out in full force to line up behind their Senator. Neither Olseen nor his defenders can admit the T bill will cost a whole lot more than his declared $37 per year. They just don’t want us to know how much it will actually cost taxpayers. It’s obvious Tepoorten and Barrett struck a nerve when all these Dems get in defensive mode!

Tepoorten and Barrett are clearly the hands-down winners in this debate. Thanks guys. And thanks to these Dems for the rants. It makes great reading to see how Dems avoid reality! In their haste to defend one of their own, they forgot to do some simple math. If every one of Minnesota's 5.2 million people paid $37 annually for 10 years, that would provide just $1.924 billion against the $6.6 billion. That's a measly $4.676 billion short of making payment.

The Dems compulsion to use fuzzy math leads them to be dishonest with numbers. It also makes them fiscally irresponsible.